The present invention relates to card-like devices and, in particular, it concerns a card device configured for connecting directly to a standard USB receptacle.
Flash memory drives and other devices based on similar technology are packaged in several forms and shapes, such as a key-holder, a pen, a pocketknife etc. One useful form factor for flash memory drive is that of a plastic card that can be carried in a credit card wallet, and may serve additional functions, such as for use as a smart card, a credit card or an identification card.
Due to the specifications of the USB standard, there is a narrow tolerance for the thickness of the connector plate of the USB plug, which has to be a minimum of about 1 mm. This thickness is almost twice as much as available in credit cards and smart cards, and in some cases, considerably more than twice the preferred thickness dimension of the card.
Known solutions for providing a USB connector on a thin card either require use of a thick card of thickness sufficient to reliably engage a USB socket, or employ a card formed as an assembly of at least two pieces in which one part moves relative to the other in order increase the thickness of the connector, when the card is to be used as a connector. Both solutions have the advantage of complying with the standard USB specifications, but have the disadvantage of making the card cumbersome and more expensive to produce.
PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2005/124932 to Atsmon et al. discloses (in FIG. 6b) a further approach according to which the thickness of the card is increased by doubling over the card on itself. The proposed approach does not seem to allow use of a conventional rectangular credit-card-type device, but rather requires a plug-width projecting element similar to the embodiments of Atsmon shown in FIGS. 8-11.
It is desired to have a card that has the shape and thickness of a standard credit card, carries a USB connector, and is most preferably made of one piece in a process of stamping and printing.